Red Alpha
by Carrot52
Summary: When ignis runs into an old friend, she takes the boys on a hunt to take down a troublesome demon, but when a simple hunt turns into a run in with the empire, more than one person will pay the price.
1. Chapter 1

Ignis was getting annoyed, Lestallum's famous Partellum market has just about everything, but coffee, they were running out of ebony coffee, and the Niffs were holding up the supplies, Ignis isn't usually one for violence, he does it for necessity, andto  
fight the empire, but right now he might just kill for some more coffee beans. Distracted at a stall of spices, Ignis didn't notice the girl near him until he turned around and ran smack into her, disoriented for a moment, he picked his shoppingup  
and held out a hand for the girl.

"My apologies, for that, I wasn't looking where I was going"

"No, no, it's okay" she said taking the proffered hand "I wasn't looking either-" she started "I-Igggy?" She asked

Ignis searched through his memories, he didn't recognise her, but she looked erily famillier

"Do I know you?" He asked

"Ig, it's me,Kirena, I was a crownsguard trainee, but I helped out at the kitchens a lot, we met once when you were trying to teach prince Noctis how to cook" Ignis peered at her, long golden brown curls spilled over her shoulders, blue with brownflecked  
eyes searched his face, he could tell she was suppressing excitement, a sudden flash of memory hit him, a young excitable girl, baking in the citidel's expansive kitchens.

"Kirena! You survived the invasion!" She nodded, the excitement she was suppressing leaking into her body language.

"Ah, if your here then, is prince Noctis with you?" This time it was Ignis's turn to nod

"Techincally in the hotel we're currentlyusing, but yes, he is" an odd mixture of relief and joy joined the excitement in her face

"Ha! I knew it! He's too strong to be taken down by Niffs, Charon ows me ten gil now, oh, when she finds out!" Glancing at Ignis she stopped babbling

"So Ignis, what are you doing out here in Lestallum anyway?" She asked, Ignis hesitated trying to decidedon what to tell her, but then decided that it couldn't hurt, she was crownsguard afterall, even if she was a trainee

"We're here looking for a job to do to get some gil"

"Eh, really?"

"Yes, what about you?" Kirena's face saddend

"Charon and I are here for basically the same reasons"

"Charon?"

"What's left of my crownsguard unit, the other two were killed in our escape"

"Ah, I'm er, sorry you had to go through that" she shook her head.

"No, it's alright, but sometimes I wonder, should we have stayed around and helped fight them off and not leave when we did" Ignis sighed, he'd only known Kirena for a few months, but he did know that she had a fierce protective streak, anda bit  
of a guilt complex when she feels she could've done more, he shook his head

"No, leaving when you did was a good choice, if you'd stayed behind you would've been killed, by leaving and staying alive, you can still fight the empore with everything you have"

"I guess" Kirena looked at him, a gleam coming into her eyes,

 _Oh dear, what plan has she cooked up now?_

"You said you were here for a job right?"

"Yeees, why?"

"Then I have just the thing, we found a job to take down a deamon that's been trying to get in at night but we decided it was a bit too much for us, if we team up we could quite possibly take that thing down and split the bounty" Ignis considered

"That could work, how strong is this Charon?" She tilted her head

"She's strong, mainly uses a scyth but can use daggers"

"I assume your fighting style is the same since the time we spared?" She grinned and nodded

"Alright, I'll have to confer with the others but it's possible, wherewould Charon be right now?"

"She should be at the apartment we rented, I can go and get her if you'd like"

"Okay, I need to finish shopping and get started on dinner, would you like to come over and we can talk more than?"

"Sure, what hotel are you staying at?"

"The Leville, do you know where that is?"

"Yep, see you in about two hours"

"Then it's agreed".

* * *

 **Two Hours Later**

Ignis opened the door, Kirena was in the other side

"Hey, ho" she said cheerily

"Kirena" Ignis said in greeting, behindher was a blonde,stern faced women, who he supposed is Charon, moving aside so they can come in he said

"And I suppose this is Charon"

"Yep!" She replied grinning "Nice place you got here"

"Thanks!' Said Promtoright behind her

"Kappa!" She yelledspinning, a sword materilising in her hand

"Nice reflexes" Promto said

"Thanks" she said dryly vanishing the sword

"Name's Promto" he said sticking out a hand

"Kirena" she said shaking Promto's hand, Gladio a big muscley guy came over

"I'm Gladiolus, you can call me Gladio for short"

"Noctis" Noctis said coming over "Nice to meetya"

"Likewise" Kirena said dragging Charon over to her side "This is Charon, 80% no fun, 10% fun and 10% my self-restraint"

"Hello" she said "Forgive my cousin, she can get a bitexcited, she is afterall only 15"

"Aww,that's alright" Promto said "Hey Iggy, how long until food"

"Not long" Ignis said returning to the small kitchen

"Aww, how long's "not long"?"

"Is that supposed to make sense?" Gladio asked with a smile

"Maybe, if you had brains!" Promto retorted

"Ha! I have more brains than you and Noct put together"

"Touchè" Promto said

"So, how come you managed to get Ignis to invite you here?" Noctis asked Kirena

"I gave him a bit of a proposel, for a job that we needed help with" Kirena said

"Oh? What's this job about?" Kirena grinned and puta finger to her lips

"I'll tell you after, we eat".

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

"So, what is this job?" Noctis asked as they sat around the hotel room, each with a cup of coffee, Ignis had managed to find more beans

"It's this deamon, believed to be a version of a red giant, but much stronger than the regular kind, they've been calling it the Red Alpha, the same one pops up every night at the western wall to Lestallum trying to get in, it never succeeds of course,but  
it's still been making itself a nuisance, amonth it destroyed the road, a group of 13 strong hunters went in when the bounty went up, only two survived, physically they were alright, but something happened in the fight and one ofthem had  
some kind of brain damage" Kirena said, staring intoher cup, a heavy silence followed her words.

"Brain damage?" Ignis repeated

"Yes, when the two hunters came in one of them kept mumbling, something about destruction and Etro" Charon replied

"So you need, our help to stop it?" Noct said

"Yes, the total bounty is 200,000 gil, so if we succeed, you'll get half"

"200,000!?" Promto said in disbelief, Kirena and Charon nodded grimly

"That's a lot of gil" Gladio stated

"The mayor herself put the bounty forward, the giant is threatning her people afterall"

"That makes sense" Ignis said.

"So are we agreed, are you going to help us?" Charon asked, the four men shared a look, then turned back to Charon

"Girls, you have a deal" Noctis said holding out a hand, Kirena shook it cheerfully.

"Well than, we'll meet you at the west gate an hour before nightfall"

"Agreed" they all said in unision.

 _To be continued._


	2. Chapter 2

**5:00 PM, West Gate/Ignis**

Promto, Gladio, Noctis and I walked in silence, I smiled slightly at the sight of Kirena and Charon, mentally I breathed a sigh of relif, for half an hour ago we had gotten ourselves hopelessly lost.

"Whew, thank goodess, for a second there I thought we'd never make it!" Promto said before sprinting ahead slightly

"I never doubted it" I said

"Ha! Yeah right, you were worried" Promto replied

"Heeyy! Over here" Kirena yelled

"Well than" Noct said turning to me and Gladio "Shall we join them?".

"Finally made have you?" Kirena said instantly

"I blame Promto" Noct said

"Hey!" Kirena giggled

"Are we all set and ready to go?" Charon asked

"I should say so" I replied

"Than let's go!" She said, we followed her through the gate, we walked for about a kilometer when Charon stopped suddenly and turned

"This is where the Red Alpha usually spawns"

"Oh, I can't wait" Promto said, sitting down, than thought better of it and stood up again, we stood there waiting, when a pool of darkness spread near Promto, jumping about a feet Promto spun and summoned his pistol, seizing his arm and dragged Promtback  
a bit more, it was never smart to be near a giant when it spawned, when it finally did spawn, for the first time fear pierced my gut, it's sword was bigger than the normal hugeness and was serrated, his form was bigger and bulkier, spikes wereattached  
to its shoulders, flames surrounded it's body, his roar rattled the pebbles.

"I'm starting regret this" Promto said

"No turning back now" Gladio said summoning his greatsword

"Ignis, instructions" Noct yelled

"Distract it!" I yelled back

"Easier said than done!" ShotGladio.

We fought the beast for ages, as we did I studied it's fight patterns and came up with a plan

"Noct!" I yelled, jerking my head, he warped over to where we were hiding behind a crumbled wall piece.

"I have a plan, Noct, I want to bait him, lure him to that point" I said pointing to a little ahead of us.

"Once it gets to that point, Gladio, Kirena, Charon and I will hold it in that same spot, Promto, you get behind it, once we're holding it, shoot at the small crystal embedded init's lower back, you got that"

"Got it" they all said at the same point

"Why at that point though?" Promto asked

"Because, I believe, that's what's powering him"

"Oh"

"Alright then, let's go" Noct said as he warped back to the giant and started, luring him in like he was a fish, a minute later, the giant got to the point I had indicated, and we went out, surrounding him, making sure he could't go anywhere without beingattacked  
mercilessly. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Promto dash out from his hiding place, and shoot destroying the crystal, the Red Alpha roared in pain, the flames around him grew in size, his roar penetrated my skull, a burning pain lanced througme,  
it was all I could do not to cry out in pain.I knew I'd been struck by the flames, images suddenly flashed through my head, a rain sweapt city, Ardyn grinning down at me, lady Lunafreya on the ground coughing, my eyes seared, as ifI'd been struck  
by something, but then it all vanished.

I cracked an eye open, Gladio's conerned face swam in front of me, I coughed suddenly

"You okay there?" He asked

"Fine" I croaked "Red Alpha?"

"Dead, you were right that crystal was powering it, but you took quite a hit from the flames" he replied, I looked around, Noctis and Promto were sitting down, Noct nursing what looked like a broken leg, Kirena was nowhere in sight and Charon was standingoff  
to the side looking both guilty and worried, suspicion stirred, but first things first.

"What happened to you?" I asked sitting up, Noctis, looked up, relief smoothed his face

"Broke my leg when the giant fell on me"

"Why did it fall on you?"

"Preventing you from getting crushed"

"Oh, then I owe you my thanks"

"Iggy! Your up!" Kirena said hugging me from behind

"Kirena, don't hug him" Charon said dissaprovingly, Kirena looked up

"The hell is wrong with you?" She asked

"W-what?"

"Ever since I mentioned Ignis you've been suspicious, controlling, and why do you keep glancing off to the horizon?" Charon whipped her head around having doing just that

"What're you saying?"

"Nothing, just that you've been acting really odd lately"

"You can talk about that later, look up!" Gladio yelled, as one we looked, an imperial dropship hovered overhead.

 _To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note:**

 **Sorry if you get confused by the change in person, I've been experimenting with first, second and third person, if I do something weird please just roll with it, also please leave a review.**

* * *

Roadside

Kirena

The end of the ship opened up, revealing MT upon MT, instinctively we all crowded around Noctis who couldn't stand, well all except for Charon who stared at the ship with triumph written plainly across her face, even I could see it, and I wasn't thatgood  
at reading people! I glared at her drawing my two short swords, holding them in a reversed grip.

"I really must thank you my dear, I wouldn't have been able to find you without your little tip" Ardyn's voice spoke out from among the ranks of MT(don't ask me how I know him) the MTs in the middle parted to reveal Ardyn Charon snorted

"Don't be modest, you would've been able to find us with or without my tip"

"You have way too much faith my dear" Ardyn replied as Charon walked up to him. The blood rushed from my face

"Charon, what's he talking about?" I asked, hoping against hope that I was wrong, Charon turned, a nasty look on her face

"What do you think midget, _I_ brought them here" my eyes widened, my heart sank and I felt like falling to my knees, only the knowledge that I would have to fight soon kept my up, static filled my ears. Distantly, I felt a hand on my shoulder  
andNoctis using me to stand up

"Ah, there you are highness, unfortunately, we don't have time for pleasantries here" he turned to the MTs waving a hand.

"Take the girl, kill the others" he said simply, Ignis' hands appeared on my shoulder and he pushed me back, yelling something, but I didn't hear what he said, in my head I was busy running through all my memories of Charon, trying to find a single shredor  
sign of deceit, and finding none, you see, this is what made Charon and I good team sometimes, Charon is cautious, and suspicious of strangers, I trust nearly everyone I meet, of course, that doesn't mean I spill people's secrets to randoms, that'dbe  
stupid! Charon's actually gotten me out of a few tight spots in the past on training missions and when I do something stupid. In reality, metal hands grasped my shoulders, followed by the feeling of being dragged away, voices yelled. In my headmy  
mind flicked to the other two of my team, Mira, and Jonas, lovers, and the way they'd died, like they'd been poisoned, they way they just clutched their chests and fell writhing, grief rose, and it clicked. My last thought dragged me to reality,with  
a hoarse cry, I wrenched my arms from the MTs grip and hacked them to pieces, ice flooded my veins, I pushed it down savagely, it wouldn't do for _that_ to spring up. I fought MT after MT, looking for a single person, then, I found her,Charon,  
the coward was standing off to one side, I tackled her, pressing a sword to her throat. 

"Mira, and Jonas" I said my voice shaking, something wet pressed my lips

"What about them?" Charon spat, hatred in her eyes

"Did you kill them?" I asked, their writhing once again filling my head, Charon laughed

"Oh, those two losers, yes I killed them, they were annoying" hatred replaced the ice in my veins, I readied the sword to kill her

"Send a message to them in the afterlife will you? Tell them, I won the bet" I whispered, I began to slit her throat, when a sharp pain, followed by annoying blackness overcame me.

* * *

Dropship

It was the ach in my arms and legs that woke me, I groaned and jumped, well, jumped as much as you can when you're chained to the wall in a starfish position. (Never get stuck in a position like this, it may look cool, but after a while the muscles inyour  
arms and legs just get stretched, and that _hurts!)_ I struggled against the chains trying to find a weak point.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Ardyn said from the shadows just as I realised that it was hopeless, I was never getting out without the keys.. hey that rhymed!

"Why me?" I asked

"Whatever do you mean?" Ardyn asked cocking his head to the side like a dog

"Why take me and not the prince?" I elaborated

"Ah, well, you see with our recent attack on your beautiful Insomnia, the

Lucian masses are without leader, Noctis is too wilful to do what we wish, now, if I'm not mistaken, you have some rather, special abilities, the emperor, for reasons unknown to me, want you to be the new leader, of course, you will just be a font, we'llbe  
the real leader behind the scenes" Ardyn replied

"I'll never do that for you!" I said savagely

"Oh, but you will, you'll see in time" he said confidently, it was at that point when my phone in my pocket beeped, signifying my levels are falling. Surprised, looked down at my pocket, Ardyn walked up and took my phone out, turning it on, his confusedexpression  
turned into understanding

"I'll make sure your.. condition, is taken care of" I glared at him, grinning, he bowed

"Your highness" he said, before walking off.

 _Iggy_

I thought desperately

 _Where are you? Are you guys okay? Please, don't die on me_

once again, ice flooded my veins, a chill cold swirled around my fingertips, I pushed it down, it wouldn't do for _it_ to rise now.

* * *

Imperial Base

Ignis crouched in the dirt, after they had managed to fight off the MTs Promto noticed that Kirena was missing, and the dropship was gone. The four of them had then searched for days for a way to find her, scouted out all nearby bases, when Gladio hadspotted  
Kirena being led into a base, they had all converged, and were now about to launch a rescue, Ignis knew that she was only one person, but they were all agreed, Kirena is their friend, and they weren't about to let her be in the hands of theempire,  
if the chancellor himself was to capture her, then it would be a major setback in whatever the empire was planning. Ignis took a deep breath and said

"It's time, lets go" standing up from their standing position Ignis, followed by his friends dashed across the field and entered the base, Noctis warp striked and took out the sentries nearby with nary a sound, warping back they continued on sneakingwhen  
they came upon the building Gladio said they were holding Kirena, they opened the door, surprisingly, it was unlocked, unease stirred, the possibility of this being a trap occurred to him and he frowned.

 _No! Why would it be a trap when the chancellor thought the MTs had gotten to us, on the other hand he probably knows we're not dead and is lying in wait for us, I really need to stop thinking like this, if I keep it up, at this rate I won't be able to keep on going!_

Ignis thought, shaking his his head he followed the others into the building, they entered a long hall, doors were set either end

"And now for the tricky part" Ignis stated

"Uhh, tricky part?" Promto asked

"Which door leads to Kirena" Ignis replied

"Which one do you think we should try?" Gladio asked

"When in doubt, pick the first one you see" Noct said opening the door next to him, then closing it

"Empty" what seemed like hours passed as they tried door after door, finally they happened upon the one holding Kirena. She lifted slightly when they burst inside, she grinned

"You sure took your sweet time" she croaked, Ignis clenched his fists when he saw, what they had done to her, cuts off all kind crisscrossed her body, and through the rags that were her outfit, he could see numerous burns, she was chained to the wallarms  
and legs spread eagled resembling a starfish.

"Are you all right?" Ignis asked, although the question was more of a formality

"Gettin' by" she croaked

"Uhh, guys, hate to break up the happy reunion, buuut how do we get her out of these chains?" Promto asked

"Allow me" Galdio grinned, summoning his sword, lifting it above his head, he swung the sword down on the chains, the momentum breaking the flimsy metal, Kirena fell forward before being supported Noct.

"Here" Ignis said, handing her, her two short swords "We found them on the ground"

"Thanks" she said tucking them into what remained of her belt. The party of five then set off, Ignis tending to most of Kirena's wounds on the way. When a voice made them stop cold.

* * *

I looked behind me, the cuts I had suffered after my brief attempt to escape throbbed, even with a potion they still hurt like hell, not to mention my muscles after being stretched like that.

"Charon!" I growled, there she was little miss traitor, she wore an all black suit with gold epaulets, her long blonde hair was tied up in bun, her scythe, a gift from Jonas, the absolute weapons geek was clenched in her right hand (which, I found odd,considering  
last I checked she's left handed) the sight of her made anger burn at the back of my throat.

"That's right princess" Charon said in a sing song voice, behind us, MTs ran out rom every nook and cranny

"You didn't really think you'd get away that easily did you?" Charon asked

"This is bad, we're outnumbered!" Noct said

"Ya think?" I shot back nervously, I readied my swords extremely glad Ignis had found them

"You guys handle the MTs, little miss traitor is mine" I snarled

"Are you sure?" Ignis asked, I glared

"You go ahead" Gladio said

"Gladly" I replied, taking a deep breath, I sprang forward, trying to get inside her range, it was just like sparring in the old times, and that made me angrier, my vision blurred slightly, something that always happened when I got angry with someone,I  
shook it off and continued on, however my hesitation provided her with an opening, she slashed her scythe across my chest, I dodged, but was too slow a shallow cut joined the other ones, as I regained my balance she hooked the blunt end around myankles  
and pulled dragging me to the ground, I fell with a loud whoosh of air, thinking I was done for she relaxed drawing closer to me, I could see it in the way her shoulders were less tense. I grasped her left ankle and yanked, she joined me on the ground,  
with our weapons now being utterly useless, we scuffled, still laying down and slightly winded, I punched her in the face, or at least tried to as she blocked, she tried to roll on top of me, but I used my own momentum to make us bothroll, at  
one point my back rolled across one of my swords (which hurts by the way, don't do that at home) reaching around I picked the sword up and stopped, ending up with me on top of her my short sword at her neck, she stilled.

Option A: show mercy Option B: kill her

* * *

Option A:

My sword hovered, an inch from her throat, fear was visible in her eyes, her lips quivered, my hand shook, I pressed the sword onto her neck, drawing a bead of blood, I couldn't do it, I just couldn't, and that's, what irked me the most, she killed Mira  
andJonas, and with the way she admitted, it looked like she'd enjoyed it. It was right, it was just, she's a murderer, she didn't deserve to live.

 _But who'll you be, if you kill her now?_

No, I couldn't do this, she had to live with the knowledge of what she did, besides, when Ardyn learns that she let me go, who knows what he'll do to her. That's when I noticed the handcuffs on her waist, I took them off and cuffed her hands behind herback,  
I got up and dragged her with me over to a shipping container, unlocking one of her hands, I chained her to the shipping container. I glared at her one more time, before, going off to join Ignis and the others, the MTs now taken care of, feelingnumb  
and a shadow of doubt, flickered.

* * *

Option B:

My sword hovered, an inch from her throat, fear was visible in her eyes, her lips quivered, my hand shook, I pressed the sword onto her neck, drawing a bead of blood, I hesitated, should I do it, or should I not do it, the anger, hadn't abated, it wasstill  
there, fuelling my abused muscles, it was visible in the way my hands shook.

 _For Mira and Jonas, guys,I will make sure your killer joins you, do with her, as you see fit_

I thought, before I plunged the sword into her neck yelling hoarsely (I really needed some water, I'll be losing my voice if I go on like this). The anger dissipated, I sat there on her limp form, crying, as I realised, just what I did, I was a murderer,I  
was now, just, like, her. I covered my face, trying to halt the tears, but to no avail. When the tears finally did stop, I stood up, feeling numb all over again, I turned to join Ignis and the others, the MTs now taken care of, I felt, like I wantedto  
die, in that moment.

* * *

When I drew level with Ignis, his eyes flickered with anger.

"I just tended to your wounds, and you go and get another one!" He said incredulously, amusement broke through the numbness and I cracked a smile

"Ignis, have you never been in battle?" I asked "Getting injured is kind of a given"

"Not true, I was just in a battle and I didn't get injured!" Promto cut in, my eyes widened in fake shock

"Oh really, then what is that cut on your cheek?" I teased, Promto's hand flew to his cheek, a deep flush spreading

"Tha- that was"

"From this battle" Noctis said, Ignis shook his head.

"Whatever, let me see" he peeled what was left of my shirt back, and relief flooded his eyes

"It's not serious, I'll take care of it when we get back to Lestallum" he said, an idea popped into my head

"Where are we anyway?"

"An imperial base, about an hours drive from the city" Ignis said, I sighed at the prolonged idea of food. At that thought, my stomach grumbled, and he smiled indulgently.

"There's some food in the car, you can eat there" he ruffled my hair, which annoyed me to no end, I slapped his hand away and slapped his arm.

"Don't do that!" He only grinned, which annoyed me more. We continued off to the car in high spirits, that was until, I stumbled into Ignis.


End file.
